Recently I met a woman whose two-year-old dog poops on the expensive carpets throughout her house, typically early in the morning before she is awake. She has had him for over a year and a half, and she doesn’t know what to do. She is thinking of getting rid of him, she said in exasperation.

Housetraining problems are one of the main reasons people do get rid of dogs, and what is the likelihood of such a dog coming across someone with the knowledge and the patience to deal with this problem? Not too great. Far better if people can get some help with their dog and work it through!

This woman and I talked about some of the things she could do, and I referred her to my webpage on housetraining puppies and dogs. so I’ll leave her story now, and talk more generally. What are some of the things that can be done with an adult dog who pees or poops in the house?

First, I think it’s helpful to realize that the dog has somehow learned that this is acceptable behavior — even if he gets yelled at sometimes, he hasn’t learned the desirable habits, and this is due to the messages he has gotten from his people. In other words, the context is that this situation has been created by both dog and human. And that’s how the solution will come: from the interactions of both, the communication. I’ve observed that often it’s happened at a time when the humans have had full plates with other aspects of their lives and simply haven’t found the way to deal with the dog problems too.

Do be sure to have your veterinarian examine the dog, to be sure there are no physical problems involved.

You have a management situation here. From now on, the dog should not be allowed loose in the rooms that he has used for elimination. This probably means using a crate at times — I love the many benefits of crate training dogs and that link takes you to my page about how to crate train. Do take the time to let the dog come to accept the crate!

Another way you can keep tabs on your dog in the house is to attach yourself to the dog by means of a medium-length leash which clips onto a belt you wear.

Okay, so with this level of management, you should immediately see little or none of the undesirable behavior. But what about teaching him what you do want?

Spend a LOT of time taking him outside, to where you want him to do his stuff. Luckily, since adults can hold it longer, you won’t need to follow the puppy schedule I outline on that housetraining page, but you likely will need to stay outside longer on each trip. This can be a time to play ball or walk together — just be sure to keep your eyes on the dog rather than getting distracted into weeding the petunias because then you may miss the moment when he does his stuff.

You want to notice that moment for two reasons — it means you are free to go back in the house shortly but it also is a time when you want to praise the dog effusively for being so good and smart. Tiny bits of something delicious can be given too.

Over time, this method will yield results. Just don’t slack off too soon! It’s always harder to unlearn a bad habit that to learn right in the first place, but it can be done. And it’s worth it!

Dog housetraining comes up regularly as an important dog and puppy training topic… naturally! When I check my statistics each month for which pages of my website are the most popular, almost always #1 is my page titled Potty Training Dogs.

I’ve been pleased lately that people are also finding a relatively new page on the site, my review of a very useful dog potty training ebook called The Ultimate Housetraining Guide. It’s also got a lot of good crate training information, and that’s another popular topic.

If you have any interest in puppy or dog housetraining, take a look!

For some reason, one of the most popular pages on my website has always been the one on potty training puppies and dogs. Maybe it’s because I give enough information for most people to get the general idea. For several years now, I’ve had links to a couple of downloadable ebooks on that page.

I’ve just added another ebook to that page: The Ultimate House Training Guide, by Martin “Scoop” Olliver. I put it in first place because I think it’s the best.

In fact, I liked it so well that I wrote a whole page review of it here.

I just wondered… did the author get his nickname “Scoop” from the amount of poop he has scooped in his 12+ years of dog training?

If you want to skip all my writing (I won’t be offended…) and go right to the webpage about this ebook, with comments from people who have used the ebook to housetrain their puppies and dogs, as well as a full description of what’s in the ebook, just click on the image on the left.

And if you use it, do come back and post a comment!

Here’s a question which was entered as a comment on another one of my posts — I’m moving it over here where more people can see it. Answering specific training questions is always a challenge without the opportunity for a real conversation.

Cyn said:

Last week I became the proud owner of a yorkie/shi-tzu mix. He’s wonderful. The weather has been frigid and too windy for the nine week old, two pounder to go outside for potty, so I’ve been using pads. The pads work great for shi-shi, but when it is time for him to make number 2, he refuses to go on the pads or newspaper. He actually shakes and we can keep at this for over half an hour but he still won’t go on the paper or the pads, he goes on the floor in corners. HELP.

Can you put the pads or paper in his favorite potty corner, or in all the corners? Not for ever, but to get him to make the association and then later to put the pads elsewhere, or to get rid of them entirely if you want him to do his stuff outside when it warms up.

I would get some Nature’s Miracle or other enzymatic cleaner to use for any accidents in the house… these take away the odor and thus make him less likely to come back to the same spot.

For more details, see my page on housetraining puppies and dogs.
I would also create arrangements whereby the amount of time he is free in your house without your attention on him is at an absolute minimum. I’m a huge fan of crate training for the time you can’t be watching him, and the link takes you to my long page on it. However you do it, and with a tiny guy like him you could use various things you have around at first, if he can’t get to the corners without you right there too, he can’t use them!

Those half hours do sound kind of grueling for everyone. Try to get away from them, one way or another, even if it means reading a book in the bathroom and ignoring him while he considers his options.

Good luck, and I’m glad he’s wonderful!